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After a nine-year vacancy, will Korea finally get a special inspector to watch presidential relatives?

Published: 06 Jul. 2025, 15:51 Updated: 06 Jul. 2025, 16:51

President Lee Jae Myung answers questions from reporters during his first press conference after taking office on July 3. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

There was an office, but no one working in it. For nine years since 2016, the position of special inspector — tasked with overseeing the president’s relatives — has remained vacant. President Lee Jae Myung recently ordered that the role be filled without further delay.

Will he take a different path from former presidents Moon Jae-in and Yoon Suk Yeol, who pledged to appoint someone but never did?

“Power must be kept in check — even for the sake of those who hold it,” President Lee told reporters on July 3, marking his 30 days in office, adding that he has initiated the process to appoint a special inspector.

“I’ve only been in office a month, so even if I wanted to commit wrongdoing, I haven’t had the time — but it’s best to pre-empt and block the possibility for everyone’s sake,” he said. “I’ve instructed officials to formally request the National Assembly to recommend candidates.”

Appointing a special inspector was one of Lee’s campaign pledges. His policy platform stated he would strengthen oversight of the president’s relatives, promising to “immediately appoint a special inspector” and “guarantee real authority for the position.”

Under current law, appointing a special inspector is mandatory, not optional. According to the Special Inspector Act, the National Assembly must recommend three candidates, from which the president must appoint one within three days. If the position becomes vacant, a successor must be named within 30 days. The inspector’s jurisdiction includes the president’s spouse and relatives within the fourth degree of kinship, as well as senior presidential aides.

Former special inspector Lee Seok-su enters the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office on Oct. 28, 2016, after being accused of leaking his investigation details against then-senior presidential secretary Woo Byung-woo. [JOONGANG ILBO]

That Lee had to pledge to fulfill a legal obligation underscores the fact that previous presidents failed to do so. The position was initially proposed by then-Saenuri Party candidate Park Geun-hye during her 2012 presidential campaign. After Park took office, the law establishing the position was passed in 2014 at the initiative of then-opposition lawmakers Park Beom-kye and Jeon Hae-cheol.

Park appointed Lee Seok-su as the first special inspector in March 2015, but he remains the only person to have held the role. Lee Seok-su attempted to investigate then-senior presidential secretary Woo Byung-woo and launched a preliminary probe into what would become the Choi Soon-sil scandal. In doing so, he clashed with the presidential office and was effectively forced out in September 2016.

Moon, who succeeded Park after her impeachment, said shortly after taking office in May 2017 that the special inspector system should be restored and requested nominations from the Assembly. The Democratic Party (DP) responded enthusiastically, but bipartisan negotiations over how to recommend candidates stalled, and the DP shifted its focus to launching the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), abandoning the inspector post altogether.

The reversal came from within the Blue House, the presidential office. In December 2017, a senior presidential aide said that it was "focused on passing the CIO bill. Once it is established, the special inspector will be absorbed.”

Former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk, left, visits former President Moon Jae-in at the latter's private house in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang, on Feb. 12, 2024. [NEWS1]

The idea was that the CIO would make the inspector position redundant. The statement was widely interpreted as reflecting President Moon’s own stance. After the DP’s sweeping victory in the 2018 local elections, Moon told then-senior secretary for civil affairs Cho Kuk to “take charge of investigations of the Blue House and the government,” effectively transferring the special inspector’s responsibilities to the civil affairs office.

By May 2021, nearing the end of Moon’s presidency, the Blue House finally addressed the four-year vacancy.

“The president can’t appoint someone without the Assembly recommending three candidates,” said Lee Cheol-hee, then-senior presidential secretary for political affairs. “Blaming the president without that first step is pointing the finger at the wrong party.”

The opposition pushed back. “Not once has the president formally requested the Assembly to recommend candidates,” said People Power Party (PPP) lawmaker Kim Do-eup.

Former President Yoon Suk Yeol, right, sits down for a meeting with then-People Power Party leader Han Dong-hoon, center, on Oct. 21, 2024. [PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE]

Yoon Suk Yeol, who was elected on promises to distance himself from Moon’s administration, also pledged to appoint a special inspector.

“If the National Assembly finalizes candidates, we will accept 100 percent of them,” said then-presidential chief of staff Kim Dae-ki in August 2022. However, the PPP insisted on linking the special inspector nominations to appointments for the North Korean Human Rights Foundation — a strategy seen mainly as aimed at delay. In practice, it became a stalling tactic. During Moon’s presidency, the DP had also dragged its feet, shifting its focus to other institutions and failing to act on the vacancy.

Despite being a legally mandated office, the inspector post has remained empty, while still incurring close to 1 billion won ($340,000) annually in maintenance costs. Approximately 500 million won has been allocated for rent and maintenance fees for the office, located in Cheongjin-dong, Jongno District, central Seoul. The rest of the personnel budget has typically been returned unused.

“Both parties had shared interests in keeping the post vacant,” said one political insider. “But now that President Lee has issued a direct order, we’ll have to wait and see if things really change this time.”

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY YOON JI-WON [[email protected]]